Maya codices: Encyclopedia II - Maya codices - Other Maya codices

Maya codices - Other Maya codices

Given the rarity and importance of these books, rumors of finding new ones often develop interest.

Archaeological excavations of Maya sites have turned up a number of rectangular lumps of plaster and paint flakes, most commonly in elite tombs. These lumps are the remains of codices where all the organic material has rotted away. A few of the more coherent of these lumps have been preserved, with the slim hope that some technique to be developed by future generations of archaeologists may be able to recover some information from these remains of ancient pages.

Maya codices - Forgeries

Since the start of the 20th century, various forgeries of varying quality have been produced; these seldom have fooled serious scholars but art collectors have often generated profits for the forgers (Two elaborate early 20th century forged codices were in the collection of William Randolph Hearst). When the Grolier first surfaced a number of prominent Mayanists thought it was likely an unusually clever forgery, until more detailed examination proved it to be genuine.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Other Maya codices", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki